The family pet: property or person?

A court case in Argentina made legal headlines and legal history recently. For the first time in the annals of law, a writ of habeas corpus was issued to protect a person caged without companionship for years. The person in this case was Cecilia, a chimpanzee at the Mendoza Zoological Park.

As a “person” under the law, Cecilia and her ilk have certain guaranteed rights and freedoms. In the case before the Third Court of Guarantees in Mendoza, Judge María Alejandra Mauricio found that animals “are...